I Heart Edmonton

Celebrity Impersonator Tracey Bell Returns Home to Edmonton with Pride T RACEY Bell has a colourful and dynamic history with her hometown of Edmonton. Years before making a name for herself as an award-winning impersonator of classic celebrity “divas” at events around the world, Tracey Bell grew up in North East Edmonton and was impersonating celebrity favourites in her earliest school years. Tracey Bell portraying (from left) Julie Andrews, Cher, Marilyn Monroe, and Celine Dion! “I did my first impersonations of Cher at recess at York Elementary School. My friend and I would alternate playing Sonny Bono and Cher,” she says.  As she continued on to Steele Heights Junior High and M.E. LaZerte High School, Tracey added impersonations of Marilyn Monroe , Judy Garland , and Nana Mouskouri to her budding celebrity repertoire, winning drama awards and dancing in the opening ceremonies of the 1978 Commonwealth Games.  After working for T

This collection of essays takes a personal look into the conflicts of the Middle East from all viewpoints by paula e. kirman W HEN it comes to the situation in the Middle East, specifically that of the generations-old conflict between Israel and Palestine, some say that there are two sides to the story. However, as Edmonton-based editor and academic Ghada Ageel demonstrates in Apartheid in Palestine , there are far more than just two. Apartheid in Palestine is a collection of essays that both humanize and analyze issues of occupation, displacement, colonization, and apartheid – the latter being the most controversial term of the group when applied to Israel's policies concerning Palestinian land and human rights. However, far from being inflammatory, these stories of struggle are balanced in their presentations, including authors that are Palestinian, Israeli, activists, academics, and people who have lived in the region and witnessed that which they s

Regional law firm Field Law is offering $75,000 to put towards "pay-it-forward" ideas across Edmonton, Calgary and Yellowknife! F IELD Law, a regional law firm with offices in Calgary, Edmonton and Yellowknife, is excited to announce the launch of the 2016 Field Law Community Fund Program (‘Program’). The Program supports local pay-it-forward ideas and causes within the communities Field Law serves. In 2016, the Program will donate $75,000 across all three regions.  The Program allows for local individuals, initiatives and registered and non-registered causes to apply for funding over the course of five weeks. In the Southern Alberta Community Market, which includes all of Alberta south of and including the City of Red Deer, Program winners can receive anywhere from $1,000 to the maximum award of $30,000. Finalists are then chosen following a combination of community (public) online voting and deliberation by a Community Market Judging Panel. Over the pa

37 songs that every Edmonton music lover should know... by emil tiedemann I THINK it's fair to say that Edmonton isn't exactly a Nashville, Austin, or Seattle when it comes to the local music scene, but there's no denying that there are plenty of sweet sounds coming from our own backyard!  The Joe performing at Avenue Theatre in 2010. Whether they were born or raised, reared or formed in Edmonton, our humble hometown boasts some of this country's most influential and addictive music makers, everyone from roots maverick Corb Lund to international pop icon k.d. lang.  Below, 'I Heart Edmonton' has put together the ultimate #yegmusic playlist, stretching all the way back to the mid-'80s when Edmonton-born Moe Berg and his Pursuit of Happiness had a hit with "I'm An Adult Now," and all the way up to Ruth B 's global success with her piano ballad "Lost Boy."  These are the songs that defined our city; that told our st

Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail's In This Together is a collection of essays that deals with some of our country's most significant issues of race by paula e. kirman I N the wake of the conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission 's investigations and the release of the subsequent findings and recommendations have been the inspiration for discussions throughout the country by churches, organizations, and individuals, about how to put those recommendations into action.  With that in mind, In This Together is an extremely timely and thought-provoking collection of essays by people from different backgrounds. What the essays have in common is the theme of colonization and how the writers dealt with its reality after their various “a-ha” or “lightbulb” moments. They write about some very personal and candid grapplings with issues of race, truth, and reconciliation. The results seem cathartic while opening the doors for dialogue about where